Job20

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

² “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.

³ I listened to the reprimand which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

⁴ Do you know this from ancient times, From the establishment of mankind on earth,

⁵ That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?

⁶ Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,

⁷ He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸ He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Like a vision of the night he is chased away.

⁹ The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.

¹⁰ His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.

¹¹ His bones are full of his youthful strength, But it lies down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³ Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵ He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.

¹⁶ He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue kills him.

¹⁷ He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸ He returns the product of his labor And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and neglected the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰ “Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

²¹ Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

²² In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

²³ When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴ He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵ It is drawn and comes out of his back, Even the flashing point from his gallbladder; Terrors come upon him,

²⁶ Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.

²⁷ The heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸ The increase of his house will disappear; His possessions will flow away on the day of His anger.

²⁹ This is a wicked person’s portion from God, The inheritance decreed to him by God.”